Has Anyone Successfully Sued NCL?

[Godiva830]

Why would having insurance help when cancelling a cruise in the free cancellation period? Remember the customer was told that the free of penalty cancellation period was up to 90 days prior to his cruise. He was apparently told this on 5 seperate occasions by NCL reps and cancelled prior to 90 days of his cruise.

 

Insurance at this point would have benefited the OP. There is Cancel for Any Reason Insurance and there's a specific deadline to be able to purchase this type if insurance. Your timeframe to purchase this type of insurance starts from the date of yor initial trip payment (deposit). Deadlines range from 24hours after to 30 after initial trip payment, depending on which insurance company you choose to use.

[Karysa]

Actually the OP states that they asked "5" times, but only notes 3 times in their original post. So they may be classing the 2 phone calls that agreed to returning their deposit for the other 2 times. Or they exaggerate, take your pick. Since we already have been told by the OP that they only used the word "sue" for sensationalism, I think "exaggeration" could be a possibility.

 

And although the phone calls were not directly for asking about the cancellation policy but apparently for other things and this was just asked in conversation. Who asks the same question that many times, unless they think they are being given the wrong answer. Very odd.

 

"booked a cruise in September 2013, cruise date March 30 2014. We knew there might be a family conflict, so we asked very specifically for the cancellation policy. Told it was 90 days. Called back on Sept 4, made a small change to reservation, asked again and told it was a 90 day cancellation policy. Because I'm paranoid, I called again in October and asked for the specific date of the deadline. Told by phone it was Dec 30, ninety days out. Unfortunately our conflict came true and we called to cancel on Dec 16, 104 days out. The rep on that call processed the refund and said it would take 5 to 10 business days. On Dec 30, there was no refund so I called and was told AGAIN it would hit my credit card in the next few days."

 

I would have done what I did the other day when the NCL rep gave me an answer regarding my then purchased UDP. I checked his answer here on cc. Shouldn't have had to but it's instinct now after reading and experiencing just how many times they get things wrong. Many cruisers don't know or bother with cc so they take the NCL reps for their word. They shouldn't be penalized for that should they?

[Karysa]

Insurance at this point would have benefited the OP. There is Cancel for Any Reason Insurance and there's a specific deadline to be able to purchase this type if insurance. Your timeframe to purchase this type of insurance starts from the date of yor initial trip payment (deposit). Deadlines range from 24hours after to 30 after initial trip payment, depending on which insurance company you choose to use.

 

Wouldn't have this cost money? The cruiser was lead to believe by the NCL reps that he could cancel within 90 days without any financial lost. He cancelled within that time period.

[hawkeyetlse]

Many cruisers don't know or bother with cc so they take the NCL reps for their word. They shouldn't be penalized for that should they?

As it happens, the OP does know and bother with CC, but more to the point he had NCL's cancellation policy in writing in his booking confirmation. He shouldn't be let off the hook for completely ignoring that, should he?

[Karysa]

As it happens, the OP does know and bother with CC, but more to the point he had NCL's cancellation policy in writing in his booking confirmation. He shouldn't be let off the hook for completely ignoring that, should he?

 

I have let people off of the hook for soooo much more so I guess that I am not the right person to ask. LOL:)

[Godiva830]

Wouldn't have this cost money? The cruiser was lead to believe by the NCL reps that he could cancel within 90 days without any financial lost. He cancelled within that time period.

 

The OP knew when booking this trip that there was a possibility of having to cancel. What if the OP made final payment, then this family conflict came up. The Cancel For Any Reason insurance would've gotten his money back if it was purchased at initial trip payment (deposit). If you know that you may be having issues that may interfere with your trip, you take the proper precautions like buying insurance (for a few hundred dollars) or READ YOUR RESERVATION FOR SPECIFIC CANCELATION DATES. The OP obviously did neither!

 

I also find it hard to believe that the OP called 5 different times, got 5 different people, made changes to their reservations, and none of them got the cancelation time frame correct. When you call and ask "when can I cancel my cruise?" The NCL rep will say "what's your reservation number so I can look up your cruise". Not one rep asked? :confused:

 

If people are believing this to be the case, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you ;)

[Karysa]

The OP knew when booking this trip that there was a possibility of having to cancel. What if the OP made final payment, then this family conflict came up. The Cancel For Any Reason insurance would've gotten his money back if it was purchased at initial trip payment (deposit). If you know that you may be having issues that may interfere with your trip, you take the proper precautions like buying insurance (for a few hundred dollars) or READ YOUR RESERVATION FOR SPECIFIC CANCELATION DATES. The OP obviously did neither!

 

I also find it hard to believe that the OP called 5 different times, got 5 different people, made changes to their reservations, and none of them got the cancelation time frame correct. When you call and ask "when can I cancel my cruise?" The NCL rep will say "what's your reservation number so I can look up your cruise". Not one rep asked? :confused:

 

If people are believing this to be the case, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you ;)

 

 

Perhaps that's one of the reasons he was checking on the cancellation date. Why purchase trip insurance if you might have to cancel during the free cancellation period. Makes sense to me. I would do that if I was thinking that I may have to cancel. Once final payment is due you can buy insurance then when you actually have something to lose.

 

It has stayed on here and the NCL rep has posted that they will look into it so my guess is that given the NCL reps track record that both cc and NCL think that it is quite possibly a legitimate complaint.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Karysa

[che5904]

It has stayed on here and the NCL rep has posted that they will look into it so my guess is that given the NCL reps track record that both cc and NCL think that it is quite possibly a legitimate complaint.

 

Or sadly his ploy to "get attention" worked.

 

Karysa you and I rarely agree on much. But in this case you make a quite a few valid points. No I see no reason that the OP should have purchased insurance if they had full intentions on making a decision prior to final payment...agreed. People should not have to go to CC to get correct information...agreed. NCL should look at each individual case just in case there may be extenuating circumstances like the OP may have been given incorrect information...agreed (Now what NCL should do probably we wouldn't agree on that one ;))

 

So in general, I do agree with a lot of your points. And initially I was leaning toward being on the OP's side. But there are just too many loop holes in this story for me to take this specific case as seriously as some are. And the fact that the OP really does have to take some responsibility for what happened (if everything happened the way they said it did), because as pointed out numerous times, the email conformation you get really does request you to check cancellation policies and the cancellation policies are not hidden in among everything else, but clearly out front. And again paranoid or not asking the same question apparently 5 times if you have no clue that that you are given incorrect information, is a bit over the top. For example you had an idea that the information you were given was incorrect so you came to CC to check it out. If you knew nothing about CC then you would have likely called back to verify, but you wouldn't have called back to verify if you just blindly believed what you were told. That wouldn't even make sense. The only reason normally that people will check, double check and triple check is if they question what they were told. So IMO the OP already had a clue that the time line was wrong.

Edited January 17, 2014 by che5904

[hawkeyetlse]

It is usually more advantageous to buy insurance with the first payment, and some policies will refund your premium if you end up canceling within the free cancellation period. However, this whole insurance issue is beside the point, because no policy covers screwing up your cancellation date due to misinformation and carelessness. If the OP had paid for insurance, my guess is that he'd be trying to get his money back for that, too.

[swedish weave]

I have read the advice on CC for the OP to contact an attorney.

 

First off -- The contract clearly states that disputes must be handled through arbitration.

 

Second --- An attorney is going to require a retainer fee with no guarantee OP will win the case if he does succeed in getting it into court.

 

That makes the advice on CC just about as accurate as the information from NCL doesn't it ?

[e2011]

Always, Always, Always buy the insurance on an expensive trip like that. And not their insurance, go through one of the major travel insurance companies.

Edited January 17, 2014 by e2011

[ldlewis45]

Well, as a shopper and cruiser who plays by the rules, I hate that NCL is actually responding to this. I firmly believe that the only thing that pacifying whining customers does is make them more likely to abuse the company and its staff. What company should really want to keep a customer like that? And I say that as a former retail employee, too.

 

By rewarding bad behavior (whether it's threatening to sue, or making returns outside the return period or without the proper documentation), all the company does is create another person that thinks, "Oh, I don't have to follow the rules, I'll get whatever I want if I yell loud enough." And of course, they're likely to tell all of their entitled-special-snowflake friends that they'll get their way if they make enough noise. I know that for a fact, too, because on my last Carnival cruise, a lady sitting at my dinner table was telling all of us how she gets free upgrades by calling and telling Carnival how terrible they are and that she's going to leave if she doesn't get something. I wanted to slap her, lol, or at least tell her that she's a great example of what's wrong with the world today.

 

Now, I agree that IF everything happened the way the OP said it did (and I doubt it, since who checks 5 times to make sure an answer is correct if they believe that it is?), and IF the OP asked nicely and explained the situation, that NCL should give them a credit towards another cruise. But I also think that once the word "sue" comes out of a customer's mouth (or from his/her keyboard), a company should say, "Nope. Talk to our lawyers."

[sparks1093]

Why purchase trip insurance if you might have to cancel during the free cancellation period.

 

Just to answer this particular point- we bought traveler's insurance when we booked our upcoming cruise which was booked over a year prior to sailing. If I bought the same policy today it would cost twice as much, we would not have a pre-existing condition waiver and the medical portion of the travel insurance would be secondary to my health plan (by purchasing the policy within 14 days of initial payment one of the benefits, for the plan that I purchased, is that the travel insurance becomes primary for medical). So there are good reasons to buy insurance before the final payment date, even if there is a possibility of having to cancel before that.

Edited January 17, 2014 by sparks1093

[newmexicoNita]

The NCL rep came on here and said she will look into this. Many of the faithful cheered. Even those that were flaming the OP. The reason is that despite everything else, IF (and we have nothing else to go on ) the OP did attempt to clarify with NCL by phone on 5 seperate occasions, the last day that HE can cancel without penalty and was told the same albeit wrong information, that perhaps in this particular case, out of good faith, the company should make an exception and return this gentleman his deposit. He did cancel within the 90 day period that he was told he needed to and the company had time to get some if not all of their $2000 back by selling the cabin to someone else afterall. Perhaps NCL will not lose this gentleman and his family and friends and some potential new or previous cruisers due to this negative publicity.

 

The ironic thing on this thread is that I have seen where the cruiselines change the policy that the cruiser has agreed to and perhaps chose that cruiseline because of: age to attend kids club on NCL for example. On those threads the parents in this case, are given little mercy and are told that things change in 15 months and you should have checked to see if the policy changed. Chances are by the sound of the OP's dealings with NCL and my dealings regarding pre-booking restaurants with the UDP, they might have gotten the wrong information anyway so why even bother. Some people even had the nerve to tell such people that they should have checked on here with other cc members. Seriously it has come down to checking on here for NCL policy changes? Seems true. That's sad.

 

OMG, there is a difference in changing the age a kid can go to kids camp and changing a deposit or refund policy and I am sure you realize that. There is also a difference in what a contract says (in writing) and what one was told on the phone, if indeed they were given wrong information. As has been mentioned over and over, the op must have had an idea the policy was different or they would not have continued checking, but they didn't take time to read the contract. This isn't a matter of did NCL do the right thing or not, the question is: does the OP have a leg to stand on if they sue? Most of us are saying NO, plus it really probably wouldn't be worth it. There are always a few who seem to love the word "sue"

 

As for the rep who came on here, yes, that was a good move, it was someone from the PR dept and they come here periodically. I am glad they said they would look into it. That doesn't mean the OP will get the money back.

 

Now, I think I will just go on and get off this subject. We are beating a dead horse. Most of are saying it is too bad the OP might lose the money, but this should be a lesson to all: read the fine print. There are a few who think the customer is always right. Believe it or not, this isn't always the case. Why is this not always the case anymore? Because we have raised a bunch of kids who think they are never wrong and it is always someone else's fault.

 

I have noticed you asked why buy insurance? Why not? I would never travel without it and most people feel the same. No one ever knows when they will need to cancel at the last minute or when something will happen while on the ship.

Edited January 17, 2014 by newmexicoNita

[che5904]

Now, I think I will just go on and get off this subject. We are beating a dead horse. .

 

bahahaha Nita, I thought I did the same thing. Said what I had to say and decided that I would not come back. Darn notifications, I should learn to turn them off ;) :D

[JMHAM1]

Did they offer to switch your deposit to another cruise date that maybe you could have taken? Don't know if that is a possibility or not at that point.

[ladybugpug]

We booked a NCL cruise for our family of 5 (plus my son's friend) for December 14, 2013. We purchased the NCL insurance. Around 3 weeks prior to sailing my daughter was diagnosed with a VERY serious illness and was hospitalized for nearly 5 weeks. We cancelled the cruise right away.

 

Now we are jumping through hoops trying to get our money back because we have to prove we didn't know about her illness. Her pediatrician and specialist have both submitted letters stating that she was not under any type of doctor's care or treatment prior to the diagnosis.

 

Today I find out that that is STILL not good enough. They actually want copies of her doctor's case notes...private medical info. We cancelled the cruise over 6 weeks ago and have not received a refund.

 

Prior to this I loved NCL. Now I'm not in the fan club anymore. Now I guess to try to get the refund I have to hound the doctors for more very private medical info and hope NCL will eventually refund.

[Karysa]

We booked a NCL cruise for our family of 5 (plus my son's friend) for December 14, 2013. We purchased the NCL insurance. Around 3 weeks prior to sailing my daughter was diagnosed with a VERY serious illness and was hospitalized for nearly 5 weeks. We cancelled the cruise right away.

 

Now we are jumping through hoops trying to get our money back because we have to prove we didn't know about her illness. Her pediatrician and specialist have both submitted letters stating that she was not under any type of doctor's care or treatment prior to the diagnosis.

 

Today I find out that that is STILL not good enough. They actually want copies of her doctor's case notes...private medical info. We cancelled the cruise over 6 weeks ago and have not received a refund.

 

Prior to this I loved NCL. Now I'm not in the fan club anymore. Now I guess to try to get the refund I have to hound the doctors for more very private medical info and hope NCL will eventually refund.

 

Such a stressful time when your child is seriously ill. Having to deal with any outside stressors is just too much to ask.

 

Are you actually dealing with NCL or do they outsource the insurance part?

[che5904]

Such a stressful time when your child is seriously ill. Having to deal with any outside stressors is just too much to ask.

 

Are you actually dealing with NCL or do they outsource the insurance part?

 

From NCL site

 

"Coverage under Parts A, B and C are underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company"

[Karysa]

From NCL site

 

"Coverage under Parts A, B and C are underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company"

 

Right that's what I thought. ( actually purchased insurance for my spring NCL cruise and haven't read it yet :o!)

 

So is this posters fight really with NCL? Seems like its with an insurance company. Does NCL have any pull what so ever to get the insurance company to cover this without causing so much added stress to this family at a time when they certainly have more than enough stress?

[luddite]

We booked a NCL cruise for our family of 5 (plus my son's friend) for December 14, 2013. We purchased the NCL insurance. Around 3 weeks prior to sailing my daughter was diagnosed with a VERY serious illness and was hospitalized for nearly 5 weeks. We cancelled the cruise right away.

 

Now we are jumping through hoops trying to get our money back because we have to prove we didn't know about her illness. Her pediatrician and specialist have both submitted letters stating that she was not under any type of doctor's care or treatment prior to the diagnosis.

 

Today I find out that that is STILL not good enough. They actually want copies of her doctor's case notes...private medical info. We cancelled the cruise over 6 weeks ago and have not received a refund.

 

Prior to this I loved NCL. Now I'm not in the fan club anymore. Now I guess to try to get the refund I have to hound the doctors for more very private medical info and hope NCL will eventually refund.

 

You have a complaint about prompt turnaround with an insurance company so NCL is lousy?

That's weird.

Edited January 18, 2014 by luddite

[che5904]

Right that's what I thought. ( actually purchased insurance for my spring NCL cruise and haven't read it yet :o!)

 

So is this posters fight really with NCL? Seems like its with an insurance company. Does NCL have any pull what so ever to get the insurance company to cover this without causing so much added stress to this family at a time when they certainly have more than enough stress?

 

I doubt NCL has much pull really.

 

I think it's more a case of shooting the messenger. But with much stress in this family's life right now, probably lashing out at the messenger is just a reaction. Not really a time most people think straight if you know what I mean (no insult intended to the poster), just emotions run very high.

 

I seriously hate choosing an insurance company for any of my needs. It has to be the most difficult decision. The problem with choosing an insurance company is that you can't test drive them first. Therefore, you only know how reliable they are when you really really need them. By then it's too late. It's very hard to go with recommendations or reviews since each insurance claim has so many variables that your situation may not be the same as the next guy.

[Karysa]

I doubt NCL has much pull really.

 

I think it's more a case of shooting the messenger. But with much stress in this family's life right now, probably lashing out at the messenger is just a reaction. Not really a time most people think straight if you know what I mean (no insult intended to the poster), just emotions run very high.

 

I seriously hate choosing an insurance company for any of my needs. It has to be the most difficult decision. The problem with choosing an insurance company is that you can't test drive them first. Therefore, you only know how reliable they are when you really really need them. By then it's too late. It's very hard to go with recommendations or reviews since each insurance claim has so many variables that your situation may not be the same as the next guy.

 

Perhaps the OP to this 2 nd issue on this thread will come back ( like LauraS of cc said was most welcome when the subject came up on The Ask a ? Board) and let us know what happened.

Regarding insurance it is a crap shoot isn't it?

Best wishes to your daughter and your family "? 2nd OP."

[ccletzgo]

I would have done what I did the other day when the NCL rep gave me an answer regarding my then purchased UDP. I checked his answer here on cc. Shouldn't have had to but it's instinct now after reading and experiencing just how many times they get things wrong. Many cruisers don't know or bother with cc so they take the NCL reps for their word. They shouldn't be penalized for that should they?

 

I was given wrong info twice today by two different NCL reps. The first batch of wrong, I blew off. The second batch of wrong had me livid and shaking for a better half of the day. Still kicking myself for not getting her name.

 

As far as this thread and the OP's claim. His first sentence said he booked a cruise AND asked the cancellation policy knowing there could be an issue. Then called to make changes and asked again. Both of these calls would have required the booking being looked at by the rep.

 

sorry to bring this thread forward again. Still reeling from the wrong info I was given today.. :mad:

[elruth]

I would think that the OP would have better luck if he ( she ) approached the issue asking if NCL would possibly apply the deposit to a future cruise instead of getting into the " sue " mode. It was the OP's mistake and when one is spending that much money on a cruise I would think they would check papers, emails, receipts to verify the cancellation date. ( actually check no matter what you are paying ) I think we are in a "sue society". I'm sure the OP will have to pay an attorney and the fee could easily be $ 2000.00!